新闻英语词汇: drain the swamp 抽干官僚主义的沼泽

新闻英语词汇 Journalism Vocabulary

"drain the swamp " 字面意义是"排干沼泽"。20世纪80年代以来，“排干沼泽”一词被美国政客频繁使用。这句话原意是指为了减少蚊子数量以对抗疟疾而将沼泽排干，后来这里的沼泽暗指华盛顿特政府，即政府建立在沼泽地带。

特朗普并不是第一个把“抽干沼泽”的比喻用在政治里的人, 三十多年前,美国总统里根就曾经表示要“抽干官僚主义的沼泽”。

1983年，美国总统里根( Reagan)在启动葛雷斯委员会(Grace Commission)时，呼吁“清除联邦政府官僚主义的沼泽”， shrink the government bureaucracy，压缩政府官僚系统。

特朗普执政以来，继续发扬光大，高频率使用drain the swamp来对付华盛顿政府的建制派，也成为特朗普的竞选口号之一。

特朗普当选时从未在政府或军队服役。这也是他吸引众多支持者的原因之一。他来到华盛顿，对他所称的“深层国家”(deep state)深表怀疑。他承诺要抽干这片沼泽。

WASHINGTON — It became such a central slogan of Donald J. Trump’s 2016 campaign that at rallies his supporters would chant the three words representing his pledge to take on big donors and special interests: “Drain the swamp.”

But as President Trump ramps up his 2020 re-election bid, it is clear that he has tolerated if not fostered a swamp of his own in Washington, granting up-close access to deep-pocketed supporters and interest groups willing to write six- and seven-figure checks to his political operation. Some have used the opportunity to plead their cases directly to him. （New York Times）Jan. 26, 2020